The Way I Feel When I'm With You
by C.B. Magique
Summary: Sasuke lives alone in a huge manor left behind by his dead family. His universe - big enough for only himself - will change when he stumbles across a boy named Naruto. The boy's origins are a mystery and to solve it Sasuke has to reach out into the cosmos and stretch his boundaries. But there was a reason he chose to shrink them in the first place... [AU; SasuNaru; rated for gore]
1. Chapter 1

**LOL! I don't know what I'm doing. I just wanted to upload a story. I honestly have no idea where I'm going with this. I'll update but not frequently because I have a real life and because I have other stories that, when creativity strikes, usually end up taking prominence (hint: they're all the Kingdom Hearts stories). **

**So, yes. I have no idea what I was doing, what I was thinking when I suddenly decided to write this. Psychological mystery thing, or something. AUish in the randomest of ways. This story is so vaguely planned that I'm surprised I even strung together a coherent first chapter. It's a relationship-driven story for the most part and characters will slowly worm their way in. **

**The world here is the ninja world but with some bizarre tweaks. Places I mention may or may not be places that actually exist in Konohagakure no Sato.**

**Disclaimer: seriously do not own Naruto. This is only fanfiction. I do this for fun and not for profit.  
**

* * *

**A Day Too Warm for an Autumn Day**

Uchiha Sasuke lived by himself in the middle of a large block of forest land in a large house… by himself. He was alone in the large building and it always felt hollow, cold and empty no matter how many scrolls, antiques or other trinkets he kept in it. No matter how hard he tried to fill up the space in the house there was always too much room. No matter how the furniture was placed, how many things were in a single room or how dark the colours of the room were the house dwarfed him.

On one particular sunny Friday morning he left his house for school. The golden-leafed trees lined his path the same way they always did and the grass swayed in the pleasant breeze. The sun was warm and the skies above were as blue as they could ever be… it was quite a warm day, especially for a late autumn day. Most people would have been brightened by this but not Sasuke. He was always in a down mood, so much he had the accusation and title 'Emo' thrust upon him by some peers.

It seemed that the more he walked and the closer he got to the town the nippier the breeze got. He thought that was better. It was too warm to be an autumn day. The tall trees obscured his vision but he knew the Hidden Village of Konoha was close. He expected the first streets to come into view soon but his vision was turned down by something peculiar on the road. He stared at it for a while with a look of wonder on his face.

It was a boy.

The boy had blond, spiky hair that was tousled and muddy. He wore an orange jumpsuit and blue sandals the same as Sasuke and his condition was terrible. He was dirty, first of all. He was badly wounded as well. His clothes were slashed and stained with dark, dry blood. Blood had run down his hands and there was a deep cut on his left hand that probably went all the way through to his palm. On his neck were two cuts, not across his jugular but close enough to be worried about. Whisker-like cuts were made on his cheeks and he was bleeding from his right temple and eye. His chin was covered in blood that had spilled out of his body from his mouth and his nose had dripped blood onto his lips. There were obviously some other fatal injuries on his head because his hair had blood in it.

Sasuke started to walk again, ignoring the beaten boy on the path. He was probably dead anyway and the animals would eat him during the day however when Sasuke returned along that path at the end of the day the boy was still there, untouched by any predator or scavenger. Sasuke was puzzled by this. The boy lying on the dirt in front of him was obviously dead and even if he was only near-dead the animals would have killed him and left no scraps, save a few bones. But he was still here.

The day had gotten colder and Sasuke had actually dressed for the warm morning that wasn't autumn-like at all, so he was cold and wanted to get home quickly. If the animals hadn't eaten the boy during the day they would eat him during the night. The only thing that stopped him moving on again was the chilling breeze. Sasuke shivered. The blond boy on the road shivered. Sasuke stared at him a while longer in surprise. Surely if this boy was dead or near-dead he wouldn't be fazed by the cold. But he'd shivered. Sasuke was human; he knew he was, so he couldn't leave the boy lying here. He picked the boy up and continued to walk home.

Sasuke took his first ever guest into the bathroom and striped him of his clothes, leaving only his green leaf-patterned boxers on. Sasuke filled the bathtub with warm water and poured a capful of disinfectant into it. He gave the boy a glance before putting in another capful… and then another… before eventually pouring half the bottle in. He submerged the boy in the water and grabbed a clean face towel. He began to gingerly wash the grime and blood away. He found several other wounds that were hidden under the ragged clothes. There were sore, red signs of whipping on the boy's back and chest. Across his tummy he had jagged scars that were cruelly opened with a knife. His shoulders, left side, thighs and right calf had puncture marks in them as if he'd been bitten by something with large, sharp teeth. There were small but bloody cuts all over his palms and feet. The skin on his heels was badly peeled as if he'd been dragged on them. There wasn't much wrong with him under his boxers besides a few bruises. His fingertips and toes were so dark purple they were almost black and his eyes had dark rings around them and seemed sunken from sleep depravity.

Sasuke bandaged the wounds tenderly with some healing solutions to help with the recovery. He laid out a futon in a large, empty room below his own bedroom and lay the boy between the covers.

He looked outside through the open doors at the darkness of the forest and the night sky that was littered with tiny white stars. The full moon was the most striking feature. It was a yellow moon. Instead of silver it bathed the ground and the tops of the trees in golden light like a night time sun. Sasuke stood up and shut the doors, keeping his eyes on the moon. He locked them as well, just to be cautious of the safety of the boy.

That night Sasuke found it a little bit harder to concentrate on his homework from school. He thought about the boy fast asleep in the room below him. He chewed his pencil in anticipation of the moment that he woke up and chewed his lip in worry, for what if he died in his sleep? He eventually fell asleep at his desk with his badly-chewed pencil rolling slowly out of his hands.

* * *

The next day Sasuke woke up, first of all surprised that he wasn't in his bed. It was six a.m. and he knew he was still tired from an unusually late night for him but he had a job he needed to continue. He ate a quick breakfast and changed into warmer clothing for the much colder day.

He came back downstairs from his room in a grey sweater and denim jeans. He put his bag down in his dining room and decided to check up on the boy he'd picked up the previous day. He pushed the light sliding door open and stared shocked at what he found. There was a little red fox in the room only big enough to be a cub. It was lying beside the boy's head curled up in its own peaceful slumber. It had left upon its entry a hole in the shoji screen door between one of the lower squares in the grided door. Sasuke groaned now that he'd have to fix it.

He brought the necessary tools he needed to patch the screen. As he was cutting away the broken section of paper to glue the new one on the fox came and sat next to him. He turned to glance at it briefly before turning back to his work. "You stupid fox. Now I'm going to be late for work just because I had to fix this." Then Sasuke realized how stupid it was to be talking to the fox as if it understood him.

Sasuke was late for work that day. He sighed heavily and gave a huge yawn. He stared at the restaurant in front of him that was decorated for a wedding party with bouquets of beautiful flowers and rose petals on the carpet. Ribbons were strung up around the walls and across the ceiling and the tables were decorated wonderfully with the most extravagant tablecloths and place mats the restaurant had. Sasuke's uniform was even altered for the event so that it was completely white with a pink rosette in his breast pocket.

Suddenly he was elbowed in the side. He looked up at the person who'd elbowed him. Lee was an acquaintance of Sasuke's so to say. They both lived by themselves and worked at the same restaurant but in Sasuke's opinion Lee shouldn't have been allowed to work at such a plush restaurant with the kind of eyebrows and haircut he had. Sasuke turned to him. Instead of a happy smile that he usually wore that made his face look forever joyous he was wearing an annoyed frown.

"Some ladies outside are looking for you Sasuke," he said.

"How do you know they're looking for me?" Sasuke asked.

"They asked for a 'pretty waiter' in place of me," Lee replied with a distasteful snap. "Some people are so rude, honestly."

Sasuke sighed heavily and walked out onto the deck outside with one hand in his apron pocket. The view outside was the one of the most beautiful in Konoha. It was over a clear, sparkling lake with waterfalls on the other side. The lake was lined with golden trees and bushes that were long past flowering stage but looked beautiful anyway.

There was giggling and whispering to Sasuke's right. He turned in that direction and saw a group of three girls at a table giggling and waving to him calling for the waiter. They must have been the girls Lee had informed him about. They were probably a bit drunk, judging by the three bottles of wine on their table. Sasuke let his eyebrow twitch for a while and forced a pleasant smile. He approached the girls' table and took out his order notebook and pen. "Good afternoon girls, do you need anything today?"

"Oh," a girl with blonde wavy hair and red lipstick started. She was wearing a very beautiful red dress that was formfitting down to the knees and showed off a bit of cleavage. "You would do just fine." Her female companions giggled hysterically.

"Indeed," agreed a brunette girl wearing a white dress. "You look like the tastiest dish on the menu."

"Sorry ma'am, let me correct you," Sasuke replied, trying to sound friendly and humour her. "I'm not on the menu so I'm afraid you'll have to pick something else."

The girls giggled madly again. Sasuke growled inwardly. He took down their order after they'd kept him hanging for at least twenty minutes and left but before he could get away from them the girl with black hair and a yellow and white dress shoved something into his apron pocket. He turned to her and she smirked seductively. He smiled back and turned away with a scowl on his face. He passed the order to one of the chefs in the kitchen and took out the piece of paper the girl had shoved into his pocket. He smoothed the crinkles out of it and read what was on it. It said: _'call me on: 1124 8956.'_ He crumpled it into a ball and threw it in a waste paper bin. Lee saw and decided to reprimand him out of humour.

"Sasuke, that isn't a very nice thing to do to a lady, you'll break her heart before she realizes it's been smashed."

"Good riddance," Sasuke curtly replied.

"It's not very polite either, you know."

"And it's not very polite to shove things into my pocket like I don't mind," Sasuke rebutted sharply.

"What's your problem Sasuke? You act like everyone in the world is annoying," Lee sighed.

"That's because most of them are," Sasuke replied.

"You know, you're never going to get a woman the way you're going," Lee thought he ought to inform the boy in front of him.

"Why should I take that kind of advice from _you_ Fuzzy-brows? Those things you call facial hair are almost alive. Females take a glance at you and run away screaming," Sasuke retorted.

"Ouch," Lee mumbled. "That wasn't called for."

Sasuke checked the clock on the wall. He had an hour left before his shift – which was currently actually someone else's shift – was handed over to some other poor soul. Sasuke never cared who that was unless they didn't show up and he had to take their shift. Not like he didn't mind so much because his pay for the day was doubled while the slacker got nothing but he had a life too and maintaining it was his sole priority. He picked up an order from the kitchen and took it down to a pair of elderly couples, possibly the newlyweds' parents getting to know each other. When he got back to his post at the counter he looked at the clock again.

"Yay, a whole minute has gone by," he muttered to himself dryly.

* * *

Sasuke returned home and checked up on his 'patient' as he decided to call him. He was still asleep but that wasn't what irked Sasuke about the room. Around the futon were about five brown foxes and the little red fox just sitting, licking each other and scratching their ears… and all around them were many, many dirty fox paw prints. Sasuke huffed in annoyance and chased them out. They all ran from him and disappeared into the grass and bushes of the forest. Only the little red fox cub stayed a little longer. It stared at him for a while at the edge of the clearing that was made for the house. Sasuke growled at it. He looked down at the door and sure enough there was damage, not only to the paper but to the light, wooden frame.

"You stupid fox, you did it again!" Sasuke snapped before he could stop himself. "If you wanna invite a few friends over why don't you learn how to open a door without breaking it? Now I need to go and get some things to fix this mess you made and you had better not come back inside or bring your buddies back."

Sasuke stormed off and the fox stayed put.

The fox watched curiously and intently as Sasuke glued new wood to replace the broken pieces and cut and glued new paper onto the door for the second time that day. Afterwards Sasuke went and got a broom too sweep away the mess on the tatami. During Sasuke's cleaning it began to rain. There was a freezing cold wind that was sharp and strong but the paper on the doors was strong enough to withstand it, Sasuke knew. He finished sweeping up and swept the dirt over the edge of the veranda. As he was closing the door he noted the little red fox out in the rain, sodden and forlorn. It sneezed a little fox sneeze out in the wet and cold.

"Stupid fox," Sasuke muttered. "Why don't you go and find yourself some shelter? You're a wild animal!"

The fox looked at him with saddened eyes but didn't move. The eyes were wide and shiny as if the fox was crying for help from Sasuke. Sasuke felt a pang of guilt tug at a couple of heart strings and he thought he couldn't let it stay in the rain at least. "You stupid fox," Sasuke snapped at it again. "Fine, you can sit on the veranda but if you come inside the house I'll know and I'll hunt you down and eat you for dinner. I've never tried fox meat before."

The fox looked somewhat grateful as it hopped onto the veranda and shook itself free of water and licked the wetness away. Sasuke shut the door and locked it to keep the cold and moistness away from his patient while he continued to sleep soundly.

Sasuke opened his pantry door and started to take ingredients out for a simple meal of rice balls and dried fruit – sure, it wasn't really a meal but he couldn't be bothered to put more effort into food than he already had that day. He made his plain rice balls from ready, warm rice from his rice cooker and just put them on a plate. He got his homework from his room upstairs and sat down with the work in front of him while he ate. He got more done that night than he had the previous night.

After he'd finished his dinner he was still hungry but before he got himself something to eat he went into the boy's empty room to check that the fox hadn't entered again. The room was dark and fox-free. Sasuke didn't quite want to turn the lights on, afraid that it might disturb the boy while he slept. He knelt down beside the boy he was taking care of and looked at his face. Sasuke could now see things like his chest moving when he breathed and his face twitching when he was dreaming so the blond boy was definitely coming back to life. Suddenly the boy's stomach growled and his mouth started to form words that weren't audible at first but slowly rose to a whisper.

"Ramen…"

Sasuke gave the boy a puzzled stare and blinked in surprise even though the boy couldn't see it. He got up and went back to his kitchen, looking around for more things that he could eat, starting in the pantry. Then his eyes caught some things that he hadn't realized were even there in the first place because he certainly didn't remember buying them. There were two cups of instant cup ramen in his pantry cupboard, one chicken flavoured and the other beef flavoured. He sighed and got to work preparing them. Preferring the beef flavoured cup over the chicken flavoured one he put the chicken flavoured cup of ramen next to the futon for the boy if he woke up in time to eat it. His nose twitched as if he could smell it and Sasuke took that as a good sign. Sasuke returned to his own dining room and finished off his cup of ramen. He thought for a second that he might be able to get in a few minutes to practice his jutsu for his classes at the academy but eventually decided to pass up the option and catch up on sleep.

* * *

On Sundays Sasuke was allowed a sleep-in but his schedule was still ever busy. In the morning he was always training against the trees. All the while he was training the red fox watched him from afar, annoying Sasuke without even doing anything except looking.

After lunch Sasuke went shopping, the same as every Sunday. The markets were always open on a Sunday and Sasuke preferred them because they were cheaper and it was always better quality than the food he bought in the shop. Anything else that he couldn't buy at the market he bought at the supermarket. As he was doing this chore, passing through an isle looking for pastes and spreads, some instant cup ramen on the shelves caught his attention. He didn't eat ramen and he didn't really like it so he found himself wondering why he decided to buy a few cups.

In the afternoons Sasuke worked at the restaurant. His uniform was back to the way it usually was: black with no rosette in his breast pocket and the rest of the restaurant was normal as well. Sunday afternoons were always long and boring because there were no people… or at least very few. Besides, the restaurant was quite high class and some people couldn't afford to just pop in and out on a Sunday afternoon when they felt like a milkshake or an afternoon snack.

Sasuke didn't return home on Sundays until it was dark and late because he always worked overtime to help clean up. There were clouds in the sky on this particular night, which made Sasuke wish there were lights along the path home to guide him. Instead he used a torch to navigate the way and as his luck would have it, as soon as he'd shut his front door behind him, locked it and taken his shoes off it started to rain.

Before Sasuke went up to wash up he checked on his patient, seeing as he hadn't done so all day. The boy was still there and hadn't stirred from the position Sasuke had put him in on Friday. The fox was back again too and it was eating up the cold cup of chicken flavoured ramen that Sasuke had left for his guest. Sasuke sighed in exasperation and turned to the door. As he'd guessed there was a hole in the paper that he would have to fix... again.

The fox finished off the last drops of the instant ramen and looked up to Sasuke. It seemed to have a smile on its face as if it were proud of itself and wanted some kind of recognition but Sasuke didn't want to give it any recognition. His blood started to boil in anger and he was ready to pound this fox into the tatami. Surely his floor would be completely ruined but he could always buy new mats if he ruined his current ones. The fox sensed his negative feelings towards it and lowered its ears onto its head in apology. Sasuke took a very deep breath and exhaled as quietly as he could, effectively calming his anger and cooling his system. He opened the door to the outside world and pointed to the bushes.

"Go on, you're a wild animal so go and act like one."

The fox was across the floor and running into the wet undergrowth in only mere seconds moving so fast that it was just a small, furry, red blur to Sasuke's eyes. With it gone Sasuke began to fix the door with the materials he'd left in the room in case that fox came back with its destructive streak again. After finishing that task he picked up the empty cup of ramen and looked around for the chopsticks, which had mysteriously disappeared. Somehow he was sure that the fox had something to do with it.

The next day as he was walking to school in the morning he saw a pair of chopsticks half buried in the dirt on the side of the road.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Snow Set In Early This Year**

Sasuke sat on his veranda staring at the last of the red and gold leaves on the trees wearing clothes that were only suitable for the cold weather that was getting more severe as the days wore on into winter. He was kept warm in a red fleece jacket and scarf with thick blue pants and thick, yellow bed socks. The sky above was cloudy and his house felt even colder now that it was physically cold but somewhere he could feel a small amount of warmth that made the house look smaller than the dusky colours in most of the rooms did. He didn't think it was true at first but it seemed that the presence of the boy in his home made it more charming and more pleasant to live in.

The fox was still around and it was bugging him a lot. It decided when it would just come around and break the door into the boy's room and sometimes it brought its friends along too. Sometimes there were many, sometimes there were few but it was _annoying_. Sasuke couldn't really figure out what that little fox was after. It was definitely there because of the boy, Sasuke had figured, in fact it was obvious but no matter how annoying the fox got or how ticked off Sasuke got he couldn't bring himself to just call the hospital and get rid of the boy. He wanted his blond patient around.

He sighed, feeling the energy he'd lost in his training start to return with the break. He stood up and went inside to check on his patient. He had gained a liking for this boy and the room he occupied because it seemed so warm even though there was no heater or fireplace for a fire. He found he was spending more time in the room as the days got colder just for the warmth that it offered.

Suddenly he heard a noise like a small moan. He looked down at the boy. The boy seemed to be stirring. His eyes opened slowly and Sasuke was amazed by the… _blueness_ of them! They were brighter and bluer than the brightest and bluest skies Sasuke had ever seen in his life. The boy smiled and the temperature in the room seemed to lift a couple of degrees.

"Hi," the boy said simply.

Sasuke was too stunned to respond.

The blond boy looked into the sharp, dark eyes of the brunet boy in front of him. They were both curious of this new turn in events and they were both confused by the suddenness. The blond was smiling, the brunet was shocked. There were no mixed emotions in the magical scene that was unfolding right in front of their eyes so unreal it was just a fairytale to them.

"I'm Naruto," the blond boy said.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke said more out of habit than out of brains.

"It's cold," Naruto stated. "The air is cold on my skin. Can I go where it's warmer?"

"You can't move," Sasuke replied. "You're too injured. I'll get a few more blankets for you."

Sasuke left to get the blankets he'd promised from a cupboard in the hall outside. He was still completely shocked by this twist in fate. He had gotten so used to just having the boy sleep there that he'd forgotten that someday he'd wake up and the week after he'd been found no less. Sasuke returned to Naruto and spread the extra blankets over him. Naruto smiled at him again. His smile was warm and golden and had the power to make ice melt in seconds.

"Thank-you," Naruto whispered. "It feels so much warmer already."

Naruto fell asleep again. His face returned to the ultimate peacefulness that it had been graced with ever since Sasuke had found him lying on the road dirty, bleeding and dishevelled. It made Sasuke believe that what had just happened was just a dream and that it hadn't actually happened. He had imagined it and had spoken to someone who couldn't even hear him.

* * *

Sasuke didn't do many chores on Saturday afternoon and if he wasn't covering for someone else's shift at the restaurant he worked at he would simply go home and do homework or train. So he left the restaurant and on his way home passed through a shopping strip, as he always did but this time he noticed things that he never even wanted to notice before and usually ignored. In one shop window there were models of several animals that were made of white clay and they were sculpted with beautiful attention to detail. Each clay ornament was only big enough to fit in one's palm comfortably. Without thinking, Sasuke entered the shop.

The girl working at the counter looked up when the doorbells jangled merrily like a little welcome tune for the customer entering the shop. Her green eyes sparkled with delight and she quickly checked her appearance in a wire framed mirror, making sure that her pink hair wasn't a complete mess. With a smile she turned to Sasuke.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun! I don't see you in here so much."

"I don't come here much," Sasuke replied like it explained it, which it did. "What are you doing here Sakura?"

"I work here of course! This is my part-time job. Can I help you with anything?"

Sasuke didn't reply straight away but looked around the shop first at the several artistic works that were sitting on the shelves and his mind travelled back to the clay animals in the window. "Who makes the clay animals?"

"Huh?"

"The clay animals in the window," Sasuke explained. "Who makes them?"

"Oh some guy," Sakura replied. "I don't know him that well but he knows the owner of the store. He just comes along with artistic stuff and gives them to us and my boss says that we have to pay him for it. Why are you so interested? Would you like one?"

"No," Sasuke sighed and turned to leave the shop.

"But wait, you came in here for something, right?"

"No. I don't know why I came in here."

* * *

When Sasuke returned home the only thing that stopped him from going in through the front door was a full-grown, brown fox as it dashed past and darted around to the back of the house. Sasuke was hot on its trail, knowing full well what was going to come next if he didn't catch it. Sure enough when he got around to the side of the house and saw bits and pieces of broken shoji screen on the veranda he was fuming mad and knew who needed to be killed for it. Inside his guest's room there were almost forty foxes and in the middle of all of the intruding foxes was the little red fox… again.

"Get out!" Sasuke screamed. The foxes all panicked and ran out of the house in fear of the loud, harsh voice. Only the little fox stayed. "You too," Sasuke demanded. The little fox trotted out of the house and disappeared into the bushes. Now not only did the room stink of _fox_ but there was mud and dirt in the shape of fox paw prints all over the tatami. This time, Sasuke had his work cut out for him. He groaned and turned his gaze to the completely demolished door, no doubt attacked by a swarming wave of foxes dying to get in. He could forget about fixing it, he might as well just start from scratch.

By the time Sasuke had the floor clean and the room aired out and scented with some deodorizing spray the little fox was back and watching him intently with a battle stance as if it was ready to jump if Sasuke tried anything funny. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You stupid fox," he snapped at it. "Why don't you just leave it alone and go home? Surely you have a den somewhere in this forest!"

The fox relaxed and sat down with its tail curled around its legs. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"That's what I'm talking about. Why are you always around?"

The fox cocked its head to the side as if it didn't understand and then scratched its ear indifferently.

"And you probably have fleas," Sasuke growled. "You'll give my patient your horrid parasites."

The fox got up and turned its back to walk back into the forest as if it was deeply offended by Sasuke's accusation. Sasuke simply turned his back on it and shut the door, locking it even though he knew it didn't do anything to keep the fox out.

After that incident Sasuke retreated to his room with the goal of getting the last of his homework finished before it was due and hopes that the fox wouldn't return to break his door again. When he came down to his dining room he was surprised to find Naruto sitting at his dining table with his legs under the blue duvet to keep warm by the heater underneath it. Naruto looked up at him with those _bright_, _blue_ eyes of his.

"Good evening Uchiha-dono."

Sasuke almost jumped backwards into the wall in the hall, that's how surprised he was to hear such a high honorary at the end of his name. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Naruto looked at him with confusion evident in his eyes. "What's the matter Uchiha-dono?"

Sasuke gulped and let out a breath he'd taken in to calm down. "Why did you just call me 'Uchiha-dono'?"

"Isn't that your name?"

"Yeah, but don't call me 'Uchiha-dono'!"

"How would you like to be addressed then, Uchiha-dono?"

"Call me Sasuke, okay?" Sasuke snapped.

"Alright Uchiha-sama!"

Sasuke sighed. There was a gut feeling in his stomach that told him Naruto was going to be more than a handful to tackle with but Sasuke wasn't afraid of challenge so if that's what Naruto was going to give him he was going to take it. "Don't call me 'sama'! In fact, don't put honoraries on my name at all! And call me _Sa-su-ke!_ Do you get it?"

"Why not, Sasuke-sama?"

"Because it pisses me off!"

"Alright Sasuke!"

Sasuke sighed heavily. "That's better." _"Round one goes to Sasuke!"_ "I was just about to make dinner-"

"I'll do it," Naruto offered. He started to stand but he was slow as if he was in pain. Sasuke also noticed, with a guilty lump in his stomach, that Naruto was terribly thin. Perhaps when he found the blond a week ago it would have been a better choice to take him to a hospital where they could feed him intravenously, rather than leave him to starve in an empty room. Anyway, there was no changing the past and since he was up now, Sasuke would just have to feed him.

"No, you'll stay," Sasuke ordered. "I'll do it."

"Please Sasuke, let me do it," Naruto pleaded. The desperate look in his eyes was almost heart shattering but Sasuke refused to give in at this point in time.

"No, you're hurt so you shouldn't even be moving. You should have stayed in bed."

"But what if you hurt yourself in the kitchen?"

"_Hurt myself in the kitchen? Please!"_ "I'm not going to hurt myself in the kitchen," Sasuke assured him. "How would I do that? By cutting myself?"

Naruto's eyes widened in horror and nervousness and Sasuke realized his mistake.

"Don't be stupid, that won't happen because I'm not an idiot." Sasuke turned on his heel and walked past the blinds to get into the kitchen. He dug into his pantry cupboard and his fridge for the ingredients he needed to make a simple stew.

Sasuke had done this a million times before and it was easy, he knew it was and there was absolutely no way he could hurt himself making this stew unless there was some kind of strong distraction. Sasuke was definitely distracted by something big because he eyes kept turning back to the doorway. Did Naruto count as a strong distraction? He must count because for the first time in a few years Sasuke managed to accidentally cut himself with his knife.

"Ouch!"

Sasuke lifted the index finger of his left hand up to his eyes level to examine the cut across the skin. It was deep and bleeding quite heavily for a small finger cut. Out of the corner of his eye Sasuke could see Naruto's bandaged hand coming to grasp his injured hand. His head leaned in towards the bleeding cut and he began to lick it.

Sasuke pushed him away and took a step back in panic like he'd suddenly realized that Naruto had a bad flu that was highly contagious. Naruto stared at him in confusion. "What are you doing, Sasuke? I want to help."

"What!? What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sasuke growled back.

"You're bleeding," Naruto stated. "So I have to clean it for you."

"No!" Sasuke exclaimed. "I'll clean it myself, go and sit down at the table again."

"You should take care of yourself," Naruto said, "and no more cooking." Naruto's expression was a mix of sympathy and discipline; the same sort that parents used when they weren't very happy with what their kids were doing but not disappointed either. "You hurt yourself."

"So? It won't happen again," Sasuke retorted. He mentally slapped himself for sounding like a child. _"That's probably what he wants me to act like. He's got me."_

"I'm not going to take that chance," Naruto told him. He reached over and tried to grab the knife off Sasuke but Sasuke refused to let go. "Please let go Sasuke."

"No, you let go and let me finish my cooking," Sasuke yelled at him.

"Please! I don't want you to get hurt again."

"Thanks for your concern but I don't want it."

"I don't care! I have to look after you!"

"Since when? As far back as I can remember I've had to look after myself." Okay, that was a lie but Sasuke had had no one to take care of him for a long time now.

"That's alright, because now you have me," Naruto assured him. "Now give me the knife."

Sasuke was too stunned by that turn in the conversation to respond so Naruto snatched the knife and resumed slicing the carrot Sasuke had started before he was cut. Sasuke turned his face away and pouted in a direction that Naruto couldn't see it from. He got out the emergency bandaids anyway and cleared all of the blood on his finger at the sink. While he sealed it with the bandaid he held the cut down so that the ends of skin were together against the counter. _"I guess round two goes to Naruto."_

So, defeated in that bout, Sasuke sat down at the table and crossed his legs under the duvet, feeling his cold toes slowly warming by the heater, and sighed heavily. He made random seals with his hands out of sheer boredom. It had been years since he'd had to sit down and wait for dinner and he was so used to getting up and doing it himself.

Finally Naruto set down a steaming bowl of brown stew with the vegetables neatly chopped in it and a spoon to eat it with in front of Sasuke, then he sat down on the other side of the table with his own bowl and spoon. "Go on, eat up," Naruto urged. "I added more variety of vegetables to make it better for you. It's delicious, try it."

Sasuke took a sip of his stew. If by delicious Naruto meant bland then it was very delicious. Then again, the guy hadn't eaten a thing for at least a week, so maybe even paper was a tasty to him. "This is terrible," Sasuke said bluntly. "I could have made it better."

"Well then why didn't you?" Naruto asked.

"Because you refused to let me due to a stupid, harmless cut on my finger!" Sasuke growled back.

"Oh, that's right," Naruto smiled as if he'd suddenly remembered something that happened quite a few years ago. "But that cut wasn't harmless. It was bleeding very badly and you would've gotten blood everywhere. And bloody food doesn't taste very good, take it from me."

"_Who is this guy?"_ Sasuke thought. _"First I find him so beat up he could be dead and then he sleeps for a whole week, after that he gives me an honorary title that's fit for people with high ranks on the social ladder and now he's coming up to me saying that he's eaten bloodied food?! What kind of life did he lead?"_ "I hope you don't think it's rude of me to ask, but what of your past?"

Naruto gave him a look that clearly showed that he was deeply affected and found it troubling and even a little rude but he wore a smile over it and replied: "Of course not. What questions would you like to ask?"

"Don't worry about it. Your eyes show that you don't want to be talking about it."

"No, no, it's no trouble at all Uchiha-dono," Naruto insisted.

"_It's almost as if he wants me to ask questions that he clearly doesn't want to answer."_ "No, I'm not going to trouble you and what did I say about calling me 'Uchiha-dono'?"

"I'm sorry Sasuke but no, I'm not troubled at all. You can ask me anything you want to. I'll answer honestly, I promise."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "No, now shut up and eat! If you don't want to answer questions that I want to ask don't hesitate to be straight with me. If you lie I'll get pissed off."

Naruto kept quiet after that and did exactly as Sasuke had asked: he shut up and ate. Sasuke was actually a little bit disturbed by Naruto's sudden quietness and wondered if something could be wrong with him. One thing Sasuke had definitely realized was that there was something very off about Naruto and it wasn't just his guts telling him this, his brain insisted that common sense labelled this boy mysterious at the very least.

* * *

Sasuke climbed into bed for an early night before the next day came around the same as it always did. He looked outside at the dark sky that was both moonless and starless due to heavy cloud cover. He sighed and sat up again unable to properly find the motivation to fall asleep so he went downstairs to Naruto's room, not really wondering what he would find nor hoping for something particular to happen.

Naruto wasn't in his bed so he was awake. Sasuke found him outside, able to just make out his back in the darkness wearing an old, grey set of pyjamas that Sasuke used to use but had long since outgrown them. Sasuke went outside also to sit beside him and Naruto acknowledged his presence by turning to him and smiling warmly.

"You know that it's cold out here," Sasuke stated. "Don't you want to go inside and sleep?"

"No, not yet," Naruto replied. "I just noticed that this little guy wanted to come in but when I opened the door for him he just jumped onto me." Naruto held up the little red fox.

Sasuke immediately turned to look at the door, checking for damage. Miraculously, there was none. Sasuke sighed in relief. "That little shit again," he muttered. "At least this time he didn't cause any damage to my house."

"Have you met him before?" Naruto asked.

"On several occasions."

They sat there in a silence that almost felt awkward and uneasy. Sasuke looked down at the red fox in Naruto's lap as the boy stroked it fondly and every once in a while his gaze travelled back to a bandaged wound on Naruto's body checking for tell-tale signs of heavy bloodstain that made clear that the bandage needed to be changed. Naruto continued to look upwards at the uninteresting sky.

"Oh, Sasuke, did you see that?" Naruto suddenly exclaimed.

Sasuke's gaze turned to the sky seeing nothing at first but then a little dot of white that suddenly appeared in the blackness. That little piece of white was followed by another and another and another and yet another until the air was filled with the small white flakes as they gently floated to Earth as light as feathers.

"It's snowing," Naruto said.

"It's early," Sasuke stated.

"But isn't it beautiful?"

The two of them sat on the veranda and stared at the early snow as it settled down on the leaves of bushes and trees that hadn't yet lost all of their golden plumage. It illuminated what would have been complete darkness with its whiteness. It was no surprise to Sasuke the next morning when he found himself sleeping beneath the blankets next to Naruto and the red fox next to his head.

Beyond the open doors Sasuke could see the snow that coated the ground completely with a thick doona of white and felt the cold chill of the air blowing through the door.

"I ought to close it," he said to himself but instead he let himself indulge in the warmth he got from Naruto's presence a little bit longer.


End file.
